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Edexcel (KS4)

KS3 & KS4 history curriculum

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History
Year 11

The origins of the Cold War, 1941-58

8 lessons

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  • Warfare and conflict

Description

In this unit, pupils begin their study of superpower relations in the Cold War by examining how the Grand Alliance broke down in the years following the Second World War. They examine key events and developments that led to growing tension between the superpowers.

This unit uses and builds on pupils' knowledge of the USA as a capitalist democracy that they developed in the preceding units about America between the 1950s and 70s. It also builds on their knowledge of the Second World War which they developed in the year 9 unit about the turning points of that conflict. This unit prepares pupils for the next unit, where pupils' knowledge of the early development of the Cold War in Europe is supplemented by key moments of Cold War crisis that occurred in the 1960s.

  1. Causes of tension between the USA and USSR by 1945
  2. The impact of the atomic bomb on US-Soviet relations
  3. Soviet influence over Eastern Europe by 1948
  4. The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan
  5. The Berlin Crisis (1948)
  6. The Cold War arms race
  7. The Hungarian Uprising (1956)
  8. The origins of the Cold War (1941-58)

  • Pupils know that the Allies emerged victorious from WW2 in an uneasy coalition with the USSR.
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